Kgagodi
Key facts
- Country
- Botswana
- Diameter
- 3.5 km
- Age
- less than about 180 million years
- Location
- 22.48° S, 27.58° E
A shallow, round basin about 3.5 km across in the bush of eastern Botswana, filled with sediment.
Kgagodi is an impact crater about 3.5 km across in the Central District of eastern Botswana. It was the first impact structure recognised in the Kalahari region.
Discovery. In 1997 a drilling programme looking for groundwater found an oval, sediment-filled basin. The Geological Survey of Botswana then drilled a core more than 270 m deep. Beneath the sediment it found impact breccia with shock features, which showed that the basin was an impact crater.
What it hit. The impactor struck ancient crystalline basement rocks, mainly granite and gneiss.
Age. The crater was later filled with sediment, which suggests that the impact happened in the late Cretaceous or early Tertiary, less than about 180 million years ago. Its exact age is unknown.
Water. The sediment filling the crater is saturated with water, and the basin may be a useful source of groundwater in this dry region.
Why it matters. Kgagodi shows how searches for water, as well as for oil and minerals, can reveal hidden craters. The impactor is unknown.
Did you know?
Kgagodi was found in 1997 by a drilling programme searching for groundwater.
It was the first impact structure recognised in the Kalahari region.
The sediment in the crater holds groundwater.